Schroeder: Reason to say 'thanks'

GREGG SCHROEDER

Wednesday

Nov 26, 2008 at 11:30 PM

The annual fundraising campaign for the United Way of the Coastal Empire is a tradition that receives a lot of attention in this community from early September through the Friday prior to Thanksgiving.

Many United Way agencies and program affiliates rely on the funds raised during this time to help them continue providing essential services which are "improving lives" in Chatham, Bryan, Effingham and Liberty counties. This year, with state cutbacks and a falling stock market, a strong United Way campaign was more critical than ever.

Today, the headline is "we made it", with a final tally of $8,348,987 (some $60,000 over goal) that was announced last Friday by Savannah's own Dale Critz, Jr. That's the headline, here's the story.

We kicked off the campaign on Sept. 10 this year at the Savannah Civic Center where nearly 1,000 people enjoyed the traditional fare of Carey Hilliard's chicken and barbecue. This was about the only thing that was traditional in the 2008 campaign.

In my six years here in Savannah, the local economy has been fairly resilient thanks to the diversity of our industries: manufacturing, banking, shipping, government, tourism and service. Employment rates had been relatively steady

and the stock market was our friend.

All that changed after mid-September.

Thankfully, we had a proven community leader with Dale Critz, Jr. as our campaign chair and he led a team of 52 campaign cabinet members and 16 loaned associates that planned for victory in spite of the current economic climate.

Dale, Jr. also had a secret weapon - he calls him "Dad," we just call him "Senior."

Dale Critz, Sr. volunteered to take on the fundraising effort among the United Way's Alexis de Tocqueville Society and probably felt the pain as much as anyone. Nevertheless, Senior came through, exceeding his group's goal of $1,100,000 on the eve of the final day of campaign.

By that time, I had become familiar with his phone calls - they would always start something like this, "Gregg, Senior here, are you sitting down?" Then, he would follow with news of the day. It made us all feel good to see father and son working as a team for the betterment of the community. I'm not sure either realized beforehand the effort it takes to lead this 10-week campaign, all of the planning ahead, and all of the clean-up afterward.

Last Thursday evening, when we realized that we were going to surpass the campaign goal, Dale, Jr. told me that someone in the community had recently asked him if he had expected the job to be this tough. He told me it was tougher than he anticipated, but that he never doubted the final outcome.

I responded that if we told people how much commitment it took to get the job done no one would volunteer to do it.

I've been thinking about my comment and I realized exactly why a certain calibre of person is willing to accept the responsibility of campaign chair and for an outcome that they may not be able to control: because giving has more to do with your character than your wallet.

This year we had a NASCAR theme which Dale, Jr. fit perfectly. But we also championed the "Live United" call to action, which asks people to give, advocate or volunteer. Not everyone is in a position to make a financial contribution, but everyone is in a position to participate in the betterment of their community. That is the real goal and the one we all have to pursue in our own way.

All giving, large and small, financial and otherwise, is sincerely appreciated, because it takes all of these gifts to create and foster a community that benefits everyone. Rather than naming all of the businesses, employees, groups and individuals that made this fundraising campaign a success, let me say "thank you" for each contribution that was made, but also for those that people will make by continuing to "Live United."

It is the end of the campaign, yes, but the community building goes on - people helping people they do not know personally and may never even set eyes upon. It is a celebration of the very best in us.

We can all be proud of this effort, of one another and of this great community that we call home.

Gregg Schroeder is president of the United Way of the Coastal Empire.

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